The galaxy far, far away continued its box office dominance, setting a few new records in the process.
For the third consecutive week, Star Wars: The Force Awakens came at #1, bringing in $88.3 million. That’s a new high for a movie in its third weekend, besting the previous mark by nearly $20 million. Star Wars 7 has increased its domestic total to an astonishing $740.2 million in just 16 days of release, setting a new record for fastest time to $700 million. In addition, it has passed Jurassic World as the highest-grossing film of 2015, and will top Avatar‘s all-time domestic record in the next few days.
Repeating in second place is the comedy Daddy’s Home, which made $29 million in its second weekend. Though the comedy did not score the best reviews, it’s obviously finding some play with audiences and has held well during the holiday season. To date, the film has made $93.6 million in the States.
Expanding nationwide, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight earned $16.2 million, a strong showing considering that the film has become one of the more polarizing of the year. Despite the controversy, cinephiles were obviously eager to check out the latest offering from the fan-favorite auteur, and Tarantino’s a big enough name to draw in crowds. While Hateful Eight did solid business, it could not reach the wide debut numbers of the director’s previous films, Django Unchained ($30.1 million) and Inglourious Basterds ($38 million), most likely a byproduct of having to compete with Star Wars. It will be interesting to see how it holds in the coming weeks, especially with The Revenant expanding soon. Hateful Eight has made $29.5 million so far.
Sisters comes at #4 again with $12.5 million. The film is now up to $61.7 million domestically.
At #5 is Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, which brought in $11.8 million. The family film has made $67.3 million domestically at this point in its run.
David O. Russell’s Joy comes in at #6 with $10.4 million. That’s a 38.9 percent drop from its opening weekend figures, making it a decent hold. However, the film has probably been hurt a bit by the lack of substantial awards buzz that Russell has become known for in the last few years. The drama has grossed $38.7 million in the States so far.
The Big Short repeats at #7. The comedy/drama made $9 million in its fourth weekend to raise its domestic total to $32.9 million.
Concussion slid to #8, making $8 million in its second weekend. The true story drama has brought in $25.3 million thus far.
At #9 is the remake of Point Break. The box office bomb grossed $6.8 million in its second weekend and is now up to $22.4 million domestically.
Finishing off the top 10 is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 with $4.6 million. The young adult adaptation has now made $274.2 million domestically, the lowest total in the franchise.
[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates — based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, January 4 — at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
